DIY Sensory Room On A Budget

A DIY sensory room can be a great addition to a house with a special needs child. Determining what would be good additions as well as affordable ones can be time consuming. Each child has different needs so not every sensory room will match just like every child with autism is different. Regardless of needs, you can do a sensory room in your home on a budget.

Most, but not all, children with autism have the co-occuring condition of Sensory Processing Disorder. Making the connection of your child’s sensory needs and autism will give you a clearer picture of what his sensory diet should encompass. A sensory diet is just a plan to meet the child’s sensory needs on a continuous basis which allows him to function better in our world. make her a One way to meet those needs is with a sensory room. You’re probably like me and when you saw the price of things that an OT suggested, it made you laugh then cry because wow… that stuff is expensive! We are a family of 4 that has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars caring for Logan. Building a therapy room had to be budget friendly or else it just wasn’t going to happen.

This room is for a child who is a sensory seeker as well as an avoider. There has to be super seeking opportunities in addition to a safe space to avoid the world when he needs it. Obviously, it’s geared towards a younger child, but many of the things in this room can and do work for older kids who have sensory needs. Keep the sensory room safe for their physical limitaions but also geared to their developmental age.

The room isn’t huge, so we had to maximize space while also making sure he had everything we needed. After researching our particular needs (vestibular and proprioceptive dysfunction) we started with a slide, a swing, and a trampoline. Yes, all in this one room! The slide is a Step 2 Play and Fold Slide. For an older child, I would leave out the slide for obvious reasons.

It’s pricey probably because it folds up. There are cheaper options if you don’t need it to fold. Since space is at a premium in this room, folding up is a great trait. Look on a local swap page to get one or try Craigslist, Groupon or Living Social to perhaps find a deal.

Next up is the trampoline. This is great for older kids too. The weight limit is 250 lbs.

One of our most helpful purchases was when we got her the Ekorre swing from Ikea. Spinning and swinging can be so calming for our kids. Be sure to hang it into one of the ceiling studs or it will not be sturdy enough to hold your child while moving. Don’t ask how I know.

One of the benefits of a successful sensory diet will be improved sleep. When the body’s sensory needs are met, it can settle down easier. The benefit to having their sensory needs as part of their bedroom is that they can meet those needs before sleeping or upon waking without assistance from you. Enter the Kura loft bed. It gives extra space in the room as well as solving the problem of having a place to hide away from the world. The bed and mattress make up most of the budget so if you don’t need that, you can do your room for well under $500!

A pea pod is an excellent way to get the prorioceptive input they crave so often. Got a child who likes loads of hugs? Super strong hugs? This item will diminish that need. It has been well worth the $75 for us. Depending on your child’s needs, it can be a necessity or not.

Under the bed is the crash pad area. This is a great addition for sensory seekers. You can use simple dog bed from Marshall’s for $25. It’s memory foam and it’s fabulous and at $25 it can’t be beat for a crash pad.

You can get many smaller toys and other things here and there, but the big stuff totals up to just under $600. Don’t be discouraged by that number if it’s out of reach. Do like I did, save, search for good buys on local swap pages, hit up cheap places like Ikea and Marshalls, and think outside of the box (hello dog bed!). The most important thing is to prioritize what YOUR child needs and work to fill those needs. I hope that this helped you see that a good sensory room can be achieved by any mom that puts her mind to it!

Welcome to the Sensory Blog Hop — a monthly gathering of posts from sensory bloggers hosted by The Sensory Spectrum and The Jenny Evolution. Click on the links below to read stories from other bloggers about what it’s like to have Sensory Processing Disorder and to raise a sensory kiddo! Want to join in on next month’s Sensory Blog Hop? Click here!

Any ideas for cheap big people sensory rooms ? Im an almost 300 lb woman in my 40’s who was diagnosed as autism spectrum as an adult and suspect sensory intergration disorder but was never tested, I am always looking for adult sized sensory pieces ( I started before I was diagnosed and before I knew why they comforted me) I have texture and weighted blankets, a easy chair that rocks, colorful lights like lava lamps and christmas light ( a fav for me), use pandora and you tube for sound and incense for smell. I am looking to add nest space but not sure how at my size. Also would love a indoor swing thing like the cloth thing you have again I doubt it would hold me. I need mostly calming soft lights, quiet sounds , gentle movement ect…. I dont do well with alot of noise, fast moving light and commotion. Any ideas ???

Hi Crystal,
Thanks for reading! How about a bean bag with your weighted blanket or one of those inflatable sofas with the blanket attached? As for the swing, that’s a bit trickier. Ikea may have some you can use. Or a hammock perhaps with it’s own stand may work wonders. I personally would go with the hammock idea.

We just got my daughter a trampoline for Christmas. We’re pretty early on in this journey, she’s five and her kindergarten teacher mentioned “sensory seeking” at the beginning of the year and it was a huge light bulb moment for me. I’ve been very interested in changing up her room to better fit her needs. These are great ideas!

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About Us

Call me Penny, wife to Michael as well as mom to Logan who has autism and Madison who is pursuing a dance career.
Based on my own personal and often difficult experiences with autism, I hope to educate families of children with autism on how to navigate their world from pre diagnosis to adulthood.